Labor Employer Reporting Instructions

Part VII	Additional Communications about Service and Compensation Reports
Chapter 1	Form BA-6, Certificate of Service Months and Compensation
Chapter 2	Employee's Protest of Service and Compensation Record
Chapter 3	Annuity Estimates Operation
Chapter 4	Requests for Adjustments and Clarification

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CHAPTER 1: Form BA-6, Certificate of Service Months and Compensation

Form BA-6, Certificate of Service Months and Compensation, is issued annually. This form is the employee's record of creditable service and compensation reported by all covered employers. It also includes the deemed service months which may be credited to an employee, as described in Chapter 4 Part VIII. It does not, however, include creditable military service.

Form BA-6 also has information about separation allowance/severance pay and, the Tier II contribution amount. The procedures for protesting the information on the certificate, applying for benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, and visiting a field office of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) are included on the back of the form.

Which Employees Will Receive Form BA-6?
Forms BA-6 are prepared for all employees who received creditable compensation in the preceding calendar year, when such compensation was timely and correctly reported to the RRB. Only the first five letters of the employee's last name will appear on a certificate where the RRB has not yet verified the employee's social security number and name with the Social Security Administration. This usually occurs when the certificate year is the first year in which the employee worked in the railroad industry.

Non-Receipt of Form BA-6
Employers should advise an employee who does not receive a Form BA-6 after a reasonable period time that a certificate may be obtained from their local field office of the RRB, or by writing to the Chief of Compensation and Employer Services. Employees who do not know the telephone number for their local office may call the RRB toll-free help line at 1-800-808-0772. Information about local RRB offices are also on the Internet.

Form BA-6 Cannot Be Mailed to an Employee if:

• the employer's annual service and compensation report was received too late, or

• the employer's report contained an omission or error that prevented the employee's service and compensation from being processed, or

• the RRB has no address for the employee.

CHAPTER 2: Employee's Protest of Service and Compensation Record

An employee who believes the amount of service and/or compensation reported for his or her account is incorrect should be advised to file a Form G-70, Protest of Record of Service Months and Compensation, with the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). Forms G-70 are available from any local field office of the RRB, or employers may requisition them on Form G-615 from the Bureau of Supply and Service for availability to their employees.

The completed Form G-70 should be accompanied by substantiating evidence, such as payroll records. If evidence is not submitted, the RRB has no basis on which to request an adjustment report if the employer does not agree with the claim for additional service or compensation. Forms W-2 are useful but not entirely conclusive as evidence for a claim because gross income may include amounts not creditable as Tier I and Tier II compensation.

Employee Protest Referred to Employer on Form GL-129
Upon receipt of Form G-70 or any other written protest of record reported by a labor organization, Forms GL-129 and GL-129a (See Exhibits) are released to the NRO. The NRO must either correct the record with a Form BA-4 or verify that the account is correct as originally reported. If the account is correct as reported, a brief explanation refuting the employee's claim is needed so we may adequately reply to the employee. The following are common reasons which explain differences in service and compensation reported by the labor employer and that claimed by the employee:

• The employee also works for a carrier and combined earnings exceeded the maximum creditable compensation for the year.

• The employee claims service credit for the month in which compensation was paid, but credit was correctly reported for the month in which compensation was earned.

• The employee claims credit for the month in which compensation was earned, but the employer reports compensation generally when paid. This protest should be considered a request by the employee to have his compensation adjusted to an earned basis, and a Form BA-4 should be filed. See Part III, Chapter 1 for an explanation of reporting on an earned basis. See Part VI, Chapter 1 for instructions on completing Form BA-4.

An explanation is important because an employee has reconsideration rights in protesting his or her record if he or she believes the record is still incorrect, after our reply.

CHAPTER 3: Annuity Estimate Operation

Our Annuity Estimates Operation, commonly referred to as "AESOP", provides employers with annually updated annuity estimates for their employees who meet the minimum service requirements for annuities under the Railroad Retirement Act. The estimates are based on the employee's cumulative railroad service and compensation through the previous calendar year and assume current year eligibility for an annuity. The estimate excludes creditable military service and is based on the date of birth shown on Form BA-6, Certificate of Service Months and Compensation. If the employee's actual date of birth differs from the date shown on Form BA-6, the annuity estimate may be inaccurate. Estimates are based on the current year. No projections are done through actual retirement age.

The estimates are released in a report format in early August. The reports are available on paper listings or on magnetic tape. They are sent to the person designated by the employer as the "AESOP" contact official.

Employer participation in this operation is voluntary. Employers who wish to receive an "AESOP" report should direct their request in writing to the Chief of Compensation and Employer Services. Requests received by June 1 will be included in the current year's estimate operation. Requests received after June 1 will be held until the following year.

Individual Employee Annuity Estimates
Individual annuity estimates are always available to employees through the local field office of the Railroad Retirement Board. Please do not refer individuals to the Chief of Compensation and Employer Services or the Quality Reporting Service Center for their annuity estimates.

CHAPTER 4: Requests for Adjustments and Clarification

Employers may receive written requests, in the form of referrals or form letters, for adjustment to, or clarification of, previously submitted service and compensation reports. Some notices are merely advisory in nature about reports which have been processed. Others require a response from the employer in order to process a service and compensation report which is being held in abeyance, or suspended status, while awaiting correction from the employer.

• Form GL-24: This is a notice that the name and social security number the NRO reported do not agree with the name and social security number in SSA's records. This notice usually indicates that the NRO is using an incorrect social security number.

• Form GL-77a: This is a notice that the name reported for an account does not agree with the name previously reported. This notice usually indicates that a name change was not filed with the RRB or with SSA. In addition to providing the information requested on the letter, employers should advise the employee to file a name change with the RRB and/or SSA, if they have failed to do so.

• Advisement of reported non-critical errors: These are notices of minor errors and discrepancies of which you should be aware. These errors do not prevent the processing of service and compensation to an employee's record but should be corrected before the next report is filed. For example, I. M. Happy may have been reported as I. N. Happy.

• Requests for adjustments to reported service and compensation errors: These errors do not prevent the processing of service and compensation to an employee's account, but an adjustment is required. If the employee record is not corrected prior to the employee retiring, the discrepancy may result in a delayed or inaccurate benefit. Usually these errors are relational in nature. For example, the reported Tier I and Tier II are both below the Tier II annual maximum compensation amount, but are not equal as they should be. In other words, either the Tier I amount is too high or the Tier II amount is too low.

• Requests for corrections to reported service and compensation rejects: Rejected items are not posted to the employee's account but are held in abeyance, or suspense, while awaiting a corrected report from the employer. Records may reject for many reasons most of them involving missing or inconsistent data. For example, the Form BA-3a, Annual Report of Creditable Compensation, reports ten service months as the total number for an employee, but it does not specify the months in the service months detail.

An explanatory note is printed with each item on the referral listings. The error and the reject listings also show the original report information to assist employers in determining and filing corrections.

Reject and Error Referrals and How to Work Them
General Instructions
The first and most difficult step in handling the service and compensation referrals sent to you by the RRB is determining what is wrong. Some of the messages point directly to a single error and others are necessarily very general.

Once you have determined what data is in error, it will usually be clear how to correct the problem. The RRB uses basic dual-ledger accounting principles in processing adjustments. That is, if you filed a report for an incorrect year, you would correct this in two steps. First remove, or decrease, the service and compensation from the incorrect year. Second add, or increase, service and compensation for the correct year. By the same principle, if you under-reported

Tier I compensation by $150, the way to correct this is to increase Tier I compensation by $150, not to file a new report with corrected totals. If you file an adjustment report to handle one referral and you get another referral, call the supervisor of our accounting section at (312) 751-3371 for assistance. Filing an adjustment which takes into account two previous reports is complicated and the RRB staff will be able to assist you.

A list of referrals organized in alphabetical order follows. The list includes the reason the referral was created and how to work it.

SERVICE AND COMPENSATION REFERRALS
Alphabetical Order by Referral Message

Adjustment beyond statute of limitations - S&C rejected
This referral is produced when an adjustment is received which is beyond the four- year statute of limitations and the Form BA-4 did not identify the adjustment as a payment for time lost or explain the delay. For more information about the time frame for filing adjustments, see Part VII, Chapter 2.

You may call the supervisor of the Wage Accounting section at (312) 751-3371 and discuss the adjustment or you may write the explanation for not filing within the time frame on the referral and return it.

Adjustment caused RUIA to become incompatible to Tier I/Tier II - S&C posted
This referral is produced if, after the adjustment, there is one or no service months and the reported Tier I compensation is less than the monthly RUIA maximum but the reported RUIA compensation does not equal the reported Tier I compensation.

Prepare Form BA-4 to increase RUIA compensation to the amount of the Tier I compensation.

Adjustment caused Tier II to become greater than Tier I - S&C posted
This referral is produced when the adjustment results in the Tier II compensation being greater than the Tier I compensation. For more information about the relationship between Tier I and Tier II compensation see "Understanding Edit Checks of Tier I and Tier II Compensation" at the end of this chapter.

Determine the correct compensation and prepare Form BA-4 to either increase Tier I or decrease Tier II accordingly.

Adjustment caused under reported Tier II - S&C posted
This referral occurs when the adjustment causes the resulting Tier II compensation to be less than the Tier I compensation and Tier I is less than the Tier II annual maximum. For more information about the relationship between Tier I and Tier II compensation see "Understanding Edit Checks of Tier I and Tier II Compensation" at the end of this chapter.

Determine the correct compensation and prepare Form BA-4 to either increase Tier I or decrease Tier II accordingly.

Adjustment results in invalid Tier I amount for year - S&C rejected
This referral occurs when the adjustment decreases Tier I to zero but Tier II is greater than zero. For more information about the relationship between Tier I and Tier II compensation see "Understanding Edit Checks of Tier I and Tier II Compensation" at the end of this chapter.

Determine the correct compensation and prepare Form BA-4 to either increase Tier I or decrease Tier II accordingly.

Adjustment results in invalid Tier II amount for year - S&C rejected
This referral is produced when the adjustment decreases Tier II to zero but Tier I is greater than zero.

Determine the correct compensation and prepare Form BA-4 to either increase Tier II or decrease Tier I accordingly.

Adjustment results in negative service months count for year - S&C rejected
Adjustment results in negative total RUIA - S&C rejected
Adjustment results in negative total Tier I - S&C rejected
Adjustment results in negative total Tier II - S&C rejected
All the referrals beginning "Adjustment results in negative.." are produced when an adjustment decreases service and/or compensation by an amount greater than the amount currently on record at the RRB. This may occur if the adjustment was sent in for an incorrect year or if the employer's record of service and compensation for this employee prior to the adjustment does not agree with the RRB record. If the employer and RRB records do not agree, it is advisable to determine the cause, but if that is not possible, an adjustment bringing the employee's record to the correct totals can still be filed.

Determine what the correct service and compensation should be and, using the information shown on the referral, create an adjustment to yield that result. For example, if one service month for March is the correct final result and RRB record shows three service months for March, April and May, prepare Form BA-4 to decrease April and May. Remember to also prepare an adjustment to offset the previous adjustment which rejected.

Adjusted Tier II total is over the yearly maximum - S&C posted
This referral is produced when the adjustment results in the Tier II compensation being greater than the annual Tier II maximum.

Prepare Form BA-4 to decrease Tier II to the annual maximum.

Decrease adjustment with no previous activity - S&C rejected
This referral is produced if a decrease adjustment is received and the employer had not filed an initial service and compensation report for that employee for that year. This most commonly occurs when an employee previously worked for a related railroad and the current railroad does not file the adjustment under the correct BA number. This may also occur if the Social Security Number or the year on the adjustment is in error or if the adjustment should have been an increase.

Determine the correct SSN for the employee and the correct year, employer number, and type of adjustment. Prepare Form BA-4 with a two-line adjustment. The first line should remove the original report. Since the original report was a decrease adjustment, remove it with an identical increase adjustment. The second line will report the adjustment correcting the erroneous data.

Duplicate service months reported - S&C rejected- S&C rejected
This referral is produced if an increase adjustment includes service months which are already reported. This usually occurs when the compensation for a month is being increased and the service month is also included in the adjustment even though it was already reported.

Enter the correct service month information on the referral and return it to the RRB.

Incompatible RUIA - S&C posted
This referral is produced if there is one or no service months and the Tier I compensation is less than the monthly RUIA compensation but the RUIA compensation does not equal the

Tier I compensation. If compensation for a year is paid in a single month, it is expected that all three compensation amounts would be equal. If Tier compensation is being reported on a paid basis but RUIA compensation is being reported on an earned basis and this accounts for the differences, explain this on the referral. Otherwise...

Prepare Form BA-4 to increase RUIA compensation to the amount of the Tier I compensation.

Name does not match RRB records - S&C rejected
This referral is produced if the name and SSN from the employer's report do not agree with the name and social security number established in RRB records. This referral could occur because the employer changed the employee's name in their records but did not notify the RRB. This referral could also occur if the SSN was shown incorrectly in the employer report and happened to match an existing SSN for a different employee.

Put the correct name and SSN on the referral and return it to the RRB.

Name is missing - S&C rejected
This literally means that you forgot to enter the employee's name on the report. We will not process a report without a name because the name is an important part of our verification process. Without the name verification, all reports with incorrect SSNs would be posted to the incorrect record. Missing names rarely occur, but occasionally a magnetic report will have missing data. Names can be shown right on the referral. Do not file an adjustment report to include or correct a name.

Name misspelled - S&C posted
This referral is produced if the name from the report matches the name in the RRB record except for one or two letters. This would indicate that either the employer or the RRB has misspelled the employee's name.

If the RRB record is correct, no action is necessary except to ensure that any subsequent reports use the correct spelling of the name. If the RRB name is misspelled, please indicate the correct spelling on the referral and return to the RRB.

Pay rate is missing - S&C posted
Generally, this referral is informational only advising that pay rates need to be included in your next annual report. Missing pay rates delay the payment of unemployment and sickness benefits while the information is obtained from the employer. When missing pay rates become a serious problem to the payment of timely benefits, the RRB may require supplemental reports of pay rates from all employers who failed to include them on their annual reports.

Reported RUIA is over the maximum - S&C posted
This referral is produced if the RUIA compensation from the annual report exceeds 12 times the monthly RUIA maximum.

Determine the correct RUIA compensation and prepare Form BA-4 to decrease the reported RUIA accordingly.

Reported Tier I is over the maximum - S&C posted
Reported Tier II is greater than the yearly maximum - S&C posted
This referral is produced if the Tier I from the annual report is greater than the Tier I annual maximum for the year. This may occur if the employer was using the wrong Tier I maximum or if two of the digits were reversed or if the decimal was in the wrong place.

Determine the correct Tier I compensation and prepare Form BA-4 to decrease the reported Tier I accordingly.

Service and compensation after date of death - S&C posted
This referral is produced if the employer reports a service month on the annual report which is after the month of death in the RRB record. This could occur if the employer erroneously reported service when service was not creditable or if the RRB received an erroneous notice of death.

Determine if the employee is due service for the months referred. If not, prepare Form BA-4 to remove the erroneous months. If the employee actually worked in the months or otherwise earned the service, notate this on the referral and return to the RRB.

Sick pay after date of death - Sick pay posted
This referral is produced if sick pay is reported for a year after the employee's year of death. Payments made to an employee's estate or survivor in the year following the employee's death are not creditable or taxable. This includes regular compensation as well as sick pay compensation.

Prepare Form BA-10 to remove the sick pay reported for any years after the year of death.

Sick pay is over Tier I maximum - Sick pay posted
This referral is produced if sick pay is reported in an amount which exceeds the Tier I annual maximum for the year. This referral usually results because a decimal is in the wrong place or two digits have been inverted.

Determine the correct amount of sick pay for the year. Prepare Form BA-10 to reduce sick pay compensation in RRB records accordingly. Your employer records may or may not contain the same error.

Tier II is greater than Tier I - S&C posted
This referral is produced if Tier II compensation on an annual report is greater than Tier I compensation. If credited correctly, Tier II will be either less than or equal to Tier I compensation.

Determine whether Tier I is under-reported or Tier II is over-reported and prepare Form BA-4 to adjust compensation accordingly.

Tier II may be under-reported - S&C posted
This referral is produced if the Tier II compensation on an annual report is less than the Tier I compensation and Tier I is less than the Tier II maximum compensation. See "Understanding Edit Checks of Tier I and Tier II Compensation" at the end of this chapter for more information.

Determine whether Tier I is under-reported or Tier II is over-reported and prepare Form BA-4 to adjust compensation accordingly.

Tier I is missing - S&C rejected
This referral is produced if the Tier I compensation on an annual report is zero but the Tier II compensation is greater than zero. If Tier I compensation is correctly reported as zero, then the Tier II compensation should also be zero. If Tier II compensation is greater than zero, then

Tier I compensation should be greater than zero. See "Understanding Edit Checks of Tier I and Tier II Compensation" at the end of this chapter for more information.

Determine whether Tier I is under-reported or Tier II is over-reported and prepare Form BA-4 to adjust compensation accordingly.

Tier II is missing - S&C rejected
This referral is produced if the Tier II compensation on an annual report is zero but the Tier I compensation is greater than zero. If Tier II compensation is correctly reported as zero, then the Tier I compensation should also be zero. If Tier I compensation is greater than zero, then

Tier II compensation should be greater than zero. See "Understanding Edit Checks of Tier I and Tier II Compensation" at the end of this chapter for more information.

Determine whether Tier II is under-reported or Tier I is over-reported and prepare Form BA-4 to adjust compensation accordingly.

Total Service months greater than detail - S&C rejected
This referral is produced if the total service months from the annual report are greater than the sum of the individual months.

Determine if the total is incorrect or if an additional month(s) should be reported. Enter the correct service month information on the referral and return to the RRB.

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